In an effort to make Los Alamos County roads safer, officers from the Los Alamos County Police Department are cracking down on drunk drivers.

The agency will conduct saturation patrols starting Friday and continuing throughout the weekend.

The DWI saturation patrols are aimed at helping police detect and arrest motorists who choose to drive after drinking, said Sgt. Andrew Goldie, adding that during this period, officers will be out in force.

“But the public also can help reduce the threat drunk drivers pose to motorists by calling the Drunk Busters hotline anytime they spot a suspected drunk driver,” he said. “The number to call from a cell phone is simple: Pound-D-W-I, or Pound-3-9-4.”

He said the three-year-old Drunk Busters program has been “very successful” in encouraging individuals to take action to stop drunk driving.

Capt. Kevin Purtymun said residents in Los Alamos can also call the Los Alamos County Police Department directly at 662-8222, to report drunk drivers in the community.

“We are working hard to reduce drunk driving in our area and we want to take this opportunity to thank members of our community for the tremendous support of these efforts,” Purtymun said. “Los Alamos is not immune from alcohol-related crashes and fatalities. These types of crashes affect us all and the more we work together, the safer we’ll all be.”

Goldie offered the following tips to help keep the community safe.

“If you’ve been drinking don’t drive, and don’t ride with someone who has been drinking either,” he said. “Try not to let people you care about drive after drinking and if you see a drunk driver on New Mexico roadways report them using the DWI number. We want everyone to have a safe weekend.”